Is the end in sight for the energy drink boom? Just like VCRs and CD players eventually the price comes down so everyone can afford them and they become main stream. Since it only cost $6.00 to produce a case of Energy drinks. Is the idea then that the fat margins and greediness comes crashing down with it? Or is this a platform from which to retool and build a business on?

If it's not Red Bull it always comes down to price and that's the bottom line with the up and down the street c-stores. If Red Bull is holding steady at $32.00 per case then what if you came in at $18.00? The retailer makes more than a $1.00 per can and the placement is a win, win. And hey the manufacturer/distriubutor still makes 100% profit each?

But you still have to compete with Red Bull and Rock Star and Sobe, etc. I used to sell Shark, which is the first energy drink made (Red Bull bought the recipie from this company for their drink). We used to come in to stores at $27.95 a case, buy 2 get 1 free ($18.60 cs.) and it got us some shelf placements. Same with Red Devil. But just cause you are on the shelf doesnt mean you won the battle. The retailer would still be iffy about my product, even though he was making a lot of money on them, it was still all about the main stream brands. He knows if his customers are not happy, he will not have much of a busines.

Hopefully those thimble can energy drinks die and some real quality ones like bawls or even afri-cola since it is sorta an energy drink move to replace them.

I think that there are plenty of Buy X Get X Free energy drinks already on the market. You can find an endless supply of them at Big Lots as well. There is alot more that goes into marketing energy drinks than just price. I'm amazed at some of the absolutely foolish things I've seen on the side of manufacturers as well as end-users when it comes to energy drinks. It is all quite fascinating; the buzz that has been created by these overpriced jokes has really opened alot of doors in the realm of products that people might otherwise have written off as expensive fufu drinks. I personally think Red Bull is a purchase tantamount to wiping your rear with two one-dollar bills. But they are here to stay; they have their loyal addicts. All of the people who come out with thimble can copycats are a joke, and I include Coke and Pepsi in that crowd. And especially the big companies should be ashamed that their innovation is so retarded that they have to try to copy the idea right down to the package. It seems like the halflife of energy drinks goes "poof" just like the energy they give in most cases. Certainly alot of sorry investors are crying as they start to get a taste of the realities. And at the same time it seems like some of the most crafty cutthroat tacticians are on this bandwagon luring investors and workers into their black holes of deception, abusing distributors and retailers toward who knows what goal. When the smoke clears on the energy drink horizon, you'll see Red Bull and perhaps a half dozen others. The half dozen others will be totally different than Red Bull and will probably have their own slants and clientele. Notwithstanding all of this, I think that anyone who invests money in anyone's energy drink is a complete fool; this could be the dotcom of the new millennium!

How about my energy drink? In the same way that everyone will have their own 15 minutes of fame, it's getting to the point in the energy drink market that everyone in America will come out with their own energy drink. I'll throw some crap into a tiny little can with no regards to flavor or quality. I'll come up with a good name, too..... Kind of like Red Bull, to try to lure the mindless sheep away from their stuff. First, a color, then an animal name. Green Hamster? Orange Woodchuck? Fuschia Ferret? Those aren't Red Bull-like enough.... I've got it! Blue Barracuda! It has a good ring to it! Much better than Pee In A Thimble, which is a much more accurate description for your average energy drink! So listen up, all you investors out there! I have a product just waiting to make you money! So someone needs to fund my little startup operation! Or at least buy up my little company, absorb it into your corporate machine, and eventually run it into the ground!

[ 01-08-2003, 04:24 AM: Message edited by: Shatter ]

Well Shatter with a great idea liek that i'm sure Coke will buy you sicne they love to buy washed up crap...errr I mean quality energy drinks. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

OK Shatter and Surge... I'm going to give you an idea that you can use if you guys do a joint venture and this one is gratis.... you can call your drink "THIMBLE THRUST"!!!

Hey Danny, don't you sell a little can energy drink? Isn't is in some yellow can or something? Spa or what ever it might be. I hope your not a closet can collector.

I agree with all of the opinions here, and just wanted to add something. This is a niche market that Red Bull has created by initially being different; small can, unique non-traditional marketing, mystique/rumors about bull testicles, etc. All the copy cats out there have done zero to differentiate themselves - including the can size. They have failed to hit a nerve with the youth market, who is the target audience with the $2 a can disposable income, and that is why they have failed. Now it's all about momentum for RB, as you rarely see them advertise and it still has a coolness about it for that reason. The momentum was built from grass roots marketing and that is the key, it certainly isn't the taste. There are some companies out there who have taken a smart approach to carving out their sub-niche (Liquid X, Rock Star, and Bawls) with different size containers, great tasting products, and grass roots marketing campaigns. Those are the companies who will be standing when the smoke finally clears.

Actually, SPA isn't an energy drink. It predates Red Bull in that there have been those thimble can drinks in Europe for many years. The reason I have those is because I'm the SPA distributor for the Western States and I'm kind of obligated to carry their whole line to make the European customers happy. But for what it's worth I never drink them because they are cans!! I bend the rules for the customers sometimes but I remain a purist when it comes to my own consumption! And that works for you because I drink my share of Bawls...